Back on Track
by HermioneGranger1960
Summary: Rey and Ben are bickering neighbors but must work together in order to find Rey's cat. Written for RFFA Valentine's Gift Exchange 2018.


**This was written for the Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Gift Exchange.**

 **Be sure to review!  
** **Prompt: Kylo and Rey are bickering neighbors. They even make up things to fight about...because they hate each other, of *course*.**

 **Tumblr: reylo-riffic**

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Rey stood at the sink, glaring over the edge of her mug as the sun was just pouring into her small kitchen.

She'd spent the entire day before carefully removing the leaves from her flower bed, her carefully, immaculately, wonderfully kept flower bed. Her back _still_ ached, even after two hot showers to scrub the dirt from her skin and ease her muscles.

Rey awoke early, as she always did, and started her morning ritual. She set the kettle on the stove, enjoying the boiling water in her silent house. Once the proper milk and sugar had been added to her tea, she'd moved to look out of the window. It was then that she saw it.

The leaves.

All of them.

They were _back._

Most people would attribute the leaves to the still shedding trees, but she knew there hadn't been so much as a puff of wind last night. That only meant one thing.

 _Her neighbor._

She'd moved in only a few months ago, giddy at owning her own place that she'd worked so hard for. Poe and Finn had helped her move heavy furniture in. They'd been having a blast when Poe nudged her and jerked his chin. Rey had turned and found a tall dark man glaring at her from a window.

That one moment had set the tone for the rest of their interactions.

Not even a week later the small chain-link fence that separated their small yards was torn out, replaced with a solid wooden fence that she couldn't look over. Rey _hated_ it. She liked open spaces and the chain-link fence gave the impression that her yard was bigger than it was. He'd put that monstrosity up. The least he could have done was paint the thing.

She'd waited for him to leave for work before slipping into the backyard to start her landscaping projects. Yanking out weeds she purposely tossed them over the fence, a small thrill going through her each time the gangly plants soared through the air.

A few days passed before his retaliation. The weeds were returned – strewn about her yard and clearly returned with a great deal of anger. Added were clumps of dead grass trimmings he'd obviously collected from his lawn mower.

Weeks later Rey hired a landscape company to put in a beautiful patio. The summer nights were long, and they worked until dark. She'd watch from an upstairs window as he came home, brow furrowed, furrowing more when he stepped from his car and heard the cacophony of sound erupting from her backyard. He'd stalk into the house and Rey would watch as he slammed each and every window shut. The work went on for weeks, and for weeks she'd watch him seethe.

Once the work was completed, things were quiet. Rey was enjoying her new patio, loving the new furniture she'd carefully selected, when a blast of music startled her so much that she nearly dropped her wine glass.

 _Opera?_

Rey climbed the stairs to her deck where she could see over the fence. There, in a window, was a speaker, pointed _outside_. That bastard was purposely blasting music towards her house. Rey huffed and went inside, slamming her door shut. The music played for _hours_. Rey was on the verge of tears she was so angry.

Every night the music would start. Rey eventually purchased earplugs to stave off the torture.

Now Rey moved to the living room, straining for any outside noise. Her eyes flickered to the clock ticking loudly across the room.

 _7:43_

He should be leaving at any moment.

As if cued, Rey heard his front door close with a decisive snap. She had to force herself to remain seated. Rey listened to his car roar to life and back away before tearing down the road.

Calmly Rey placed her mug down and walked onto her back deck, surveying the damage. It shouldn't take long.

She descended the stairs, moving to her small shed to gather her tools – a rake, a ladder, and a garbage bag. Methodically she worked, moving the leaves into a large pile before scooping them into the bag. Setting the ladder up, Rey climbed slowly, hauling the bag behind her. Reaching the top, she carefully positioned the bag before tipping the opening towards his yard. In a rush the leaves dumped back over the fence, and the breeze that had picked up since last night helped carry them on their mission.

Five bags later, and her job was done.

His yard was a disaster.

Rey smiled, pleased with herself.

It wasn't until the winter months were creeping up on them did Rey speak to her neighbor for the first time.

She knew his name was Ben Solo – she'd accidentally received a magazine (some snobby literature magazine) with his name which she took great joy in shredding.

On rare occasions they were outside at the same time, they'd avoid looking at one another, and Rey could feel the hatred simmering between them.

When Rey had first moved in, she noticed a small population of homeless cats that wandered freely. She'd carefully gathered them one by one to have them spayed and neutered at the vet's before releasing them back into the world. They never went far – she made a point of providing food for them.

They became something of a family for her. Poe and Finn were always so busy they rarely made it out to her neck of the woods. Each morning when she went to make breakfast, there were a half a dozen sets of eyes peering into her back door. She'd grab a scoop of food from the bag she kept close at hand and step from the house and into a sea of hungry felines, yowling for sustenance. She'd stroke each of them and add the food to two bowls (they certainly couldn't share one bowl) before refilling their water.

Some would leave when they were done; others lounged in the sun, warming themselves.

They were the catalyst to her first meeting with Ben.

She was napping on the couch when an angry pounding sounded at the front door. Rey jumped up, thinking that someone was breaking in. The knocking was persistent so Rey stumbled to the door, throwing it wide.

There he stood on her stoop, fuming.

"I believe this belongs to you?" Ben Solo snapped, thrusting an infuriated cat into her arms.

Rey instinctively wrapped her arms around the grey and white creature whose fur was sticking up at odd angles.

"What did you do to her?" Rey demanded.

" _Me?_ I didn't do a thing. Keep your vermin out of my yard."

"I'm hardly in control of the cats, Mr. Solo."

He paused mid-turn to peer at her with a raised eyebrow.

"How do you know my name?" he questioned, his anger abating slightly.

"I'm surprised you don't have it spray painted across your house, with the size of your ego." Rey responded haughtily.

Again he was glowering at her.

"Well, Ms. Niima, things were perfectly fine here before you bumbled along, moving into a house _directly_ next to mine."

"I just can't imagine why the house was up for sale in the first place." Rey responded sarcastically.

He was glaring daggers at her now, looking as if he wished to tear her limb from limb. His rage was incredible – she could see it burning in his dark eyes. Rey watched as he forced it down, though he couldn't erase the tension from his shoulders.

"Keep those creatures away from my house." He bit out before storming down her walkway.

Rey clenched her teeth before slamming the door hard enough for it to rattle in the frame.

Afterwards there seemed to be more incidents. How many times had she gone out to her car to see that he'd swept leaves into her driveway or he'd mowed his grass and blown the debris into her yard? How often would she be forced to shovel her driveway _again?_ He drove her _insane_. Rey delivered just as much to him. Sometimes she'd catch him glaring at her house as he cleaned up whatever it was she'd done, like dump leaves all over his stoop or snow blow in a way that caused a mound of snow to land on his car.

Nearly every week he was banging on her door, fuming, his cheeks splotchy with emotion, hauling another cat under his arm. He'd wordlessly shove the animal into her arms and stalk away, hands stuffed into his jeans.

Spring had rolled in, thankfully. She was tired of shoveling snow across the fence and onto his walkway. A rumble of thunder alerted her to the incoming spring storm. Rey stood on her back deck, feeling the cool air roll in while tugging her sweater tighter around her. She peered around, looking for the cats. She didn't want them caught in the storm. Rey had set up the food and water bowls along with a few litter boxes. When the first few drops began to fall, Rey picked up a bowl and banged the spoon against it. The brush rustled and a few cats ran up the deck steps. She led them into the house and they eagerly came.

"Where's your other friend?" Rey asked, accounting for each of them except for Boba.

Rey stepped back outside into the steady rainfall, peering around.

"Boba! Where are you?!"

A flash of lightning and a rumble across the sky brought on a torrential downpour. Rey's panic rose. What if Boba was stuck in a storm drain and there was flash flooding? In a rush she tumbled down the stairs and into her back yard, calling for the wayward cat. In minutes she was drenched.

Boba never missed a meal, always accompanying his friends. They travelled together and she'd never seen the group without him. Rey walked through her backyard, beckoning for Boba. The rain was a roar and the wind was deafening. Rey's hair had started to come undone and was plastered to her face. Her panic was rising.

Where could that cat be?

Through the rain Rey's eyes locked on the glowing windows of _his_ house. Her anger flared. The cats managed to smuggle themselves into his yard nearly every week, almost as if they knew how it irritated him. Rey ran across the slippery grass and around to the front so she could enter his yard. She purposely trudged across his carefully trimmed grass and to his front door.

Rey rang the doorbell in quick succession before slamming her fist violently against his door until she heard the lock disengage. It was only then that she realized she was crying. The door swung open.

"Where is he?" Rey demanded breathlessly. "What did you do to him?"

She could tell that Ben was shocked at her appearance. Rey could only imagine what she looked like, drenched and crying.

"What are you talking about?" Ben asked carefully, thrown by her burst of emotion.

"Boba! What did you do to him?" Rey's eyes strained past him, trying to see if the cat was in his house.

"Who is Boba?"

"The cat, Ben! Where is he?!" Rey sniffled, rain pouring down her face.

"Rey, I don't have your cat, and I haven't seen him."

Rey froze for a moment, studying him. He wasn't lying. He hadn't seen Boba. A sob rose in her throat. She turned away, not wanting Ben to see her in such a vulnerable state. She felt fingers wrap around her arm, preventing her from vanishing back into the storm.

"Wait."

Rey turned back, seeing his furrowed brow. For the first time she found that he wasn't glaring at her. Gently he pulled her into the house, closing the door over. Rey stood in his entryway, dripping water and sniffling. She watched as he rummaged around in the hall closet for a moment. He withdrew a jacket, holding it out to her. Rey blinked at him.

"You're already drenched, but at least you can keep somewhat dry when we're looking for him."

"We?" Rey questioned, nose stuffy and running.

He looked uncomfortable and turned to dig out another jacket.

"If I tell you to wait until after the storm passes, you'll ignore me and look for the cat regardless. As much as I dislike your menagerie of animals, he shouldn't be out in this weather."

Ben turned back to her, holding the jacket up for her to slip her arms into. Rey hesitated for a moment before turning and easing her arms into the jacket. She was nearly lost in the fabric that smelled of him. Ben shoved his own jacket on before opening the door for her. Together they stepped out into the raging storm. Rey held the hood down in an attempt to prevent the rain from slipping into the jacket.

They started in her backyard, in case Boba had shown up since she'd been to Ben's house. She called desperately for him, feeling the rain slosh into her sneakers. Ben moved around her yard methodically, calling for Boba and looking beneath shrubs.

He wasn't there.

They moved to the front yard, and still nothing.

Rey was starting to panic. A sob bubbled from her lips. It was dark and cold. Poor Boba.

"We'll find him." Ben assured her, grasping her hand and leading her back into his yard.

Rey thought nothing of his large warm hand clasping her icy fingers as they searched the front yard unsuccessfully. By the time they made it to the backyard, Ben's hood had fallen down, plastering his hair to his forehead. Rey had neglected her own hood and she could feel the water seeping into the jacket.

"Did you hear that?" Ben asked, tilting his head.

"I didn't hear anything."

Rey watched as he darted away towards the corner of his yard, behind the small shed he kept his tools in. She trudged through muddy puddles that had formed in his yard as he ducked behind the shed. When she reached his side, he was gently speaking to a soaking wet and frightened Boba. His usual shiny black and grey coat was flat, making his face look too large for his body.

"Boba!" Rey cried, darting forward to scratch at the cat's ear.

Ben tucked the shivering feline into his jacket, jerking his chin in the direction of her house.

"We should get him inside."

Rey nodded quickly and began fighting her way back to her house. They tumbled into her house just as a clap of thunder rocked the foundation causing the lights to flicker. Rey shrugged off the jacket, tossing the dripping material onto coat rack she'd found at a garage sale.

"Do you have towels?" Ben asked, still cradling Boba inside his jacket. "We should get him dry and warmed up."

"Of course."

Rey dashed through the house, gathering towels for both of them as well as Boba. When she returned, she found Ben starting a fire in her rarely used fireplace with one hand, speaking soothing words to Boba who was still occasionally letting out small yowls of misery.

"No one told you to go out into a storm," Ben rebuked softly. "Everyone else managed to make it into the house when they were called. What were you up to? Chasing my hummingbirds, no doubt."

"Hummingbirds?" Rey asked stepping into the room with an arm full of towels.

If he was embarrassed at being caught, he didn't let on.

"My mother gave me a hummingbird feeder a while back and sternly told me off when she found it abandoned in my shed. She put it up herself. I've seen a certain sly fuzzball more than once stalking them." He finished, glancing down at the cat.

Before she could respond, the lights went out with a flash. Rey caught herself before she yelled out. After a moment she stepped forward, dumping the towels on the floor before the fire. Ben shed his jacket and Rey carefully took it from him, keeping her fingers well away from his. She hadn't forgotten the feel of his hand wrapped around her own.

When she returned Ben was sitting on a towel, carefully rubbing Boba down. She knew the poor cat must be frightened half to death in order to allow such manhandling. Rey took a towel and worked on her hair, moving towards the kitchen to start making some tea. While the water boiled she slipped into her room to quickly change. When she was finished she found some old clothes in a box in her closet that Poe left accidently when helping her move.

Ben had just placed Boba down before the fire, and the cat shook himself frantically before plopping down with half-slit eyes.

"I found some old clothes you could change into while I run those through the dryer," Rey offered hoping the blush that was on her face couldn't be seen in the firelight. "There's some tea that's just about ready also."

"You don't have to."

"It's the least I can do for your help. Who knows what would have happened if he'd spent the night in the storm."

Ben cleared his throat awkwardly as he stood and took the clothes from her outstretched hands.

"Thank you."

Rey smiled.

"There's a bathroom at the end of the hall."

While he went to change, Rey gathered whatever snack food that she could while the tea steeped. She turned up a few cookies, a chocolate bar, and a sleeve of buttermilk crackers. She made a mental note that she'd have to go shopping tomorrow.

She deposited her meager offering on a blanket she stretched out in front of the fire, which was immediately set upon by Boba. When Ben returned with a ball of wet clothes, Rey dumped them into the dryer before gathering two mugs of tea. She offered the unchipped cup to Ben before dropping down onto the blanket and snapping off a bit of chocolate.

They sat for a long moment in silence, her working the chocolate with her tongue and he nibbling on a cookie, the fire crackling loudly in the room.

"Thank you again," Rey finally offered, staring into her mug. "I don't know what I would have done if something had happened to him."

"Don't mention it." Ben offered quietly.

Rey smiled as he shifted his long limbs into a more comfortable position. It was odd, she knew, that the two of them were now sharing a cup of tea when before they'd antagonized one another within an inch of their lives.

Ben raised his eyes to her, dark in the dim light, but his gaze suddenly flickered over her shoulder, eyes widening slightly.

"Exactly how many cats are in this house?" he questioned.

Rey blinked for a moment before peering around the room.

"Six, I think. It depends. There's the main group that always comes around – those are the ones with names. Every once in a while they'll bring some friends, but they come and go so often that it doesn't pay to name them. If someone becomes a regular, they get a name."

They talked mostly of the cats then into childhood pets. Rey learned of his dog named Chewy, watching his face soften as he reminisced. He was somewhat attractive when he let his guard down. Rey caught herself, reigning in her thoughts.

The power came back on, allowing Rey to start the dryer. It didn't take long, and soon he was changed and placing his mug in the sink. He glanced out the window just as the rain began to taper off.

"I should go." He murmured, rubbing the back of his neck.

Rey walked him to the door, handing him both of the jackets. She thanked him again, watching his face flush. She watched him rush nervously down her walkway, admiring how his hair started to curve in the rain. In a single night he'd moved from being her despised neighbor to something she wasn't remotely ready to think about. She wouldn't think about it.

Tomorrow she'd dig out the tub of catnip she'd bought on a whim and dump it in his front yard.

That should get things back on track.


End file.
